"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
k.net...

"Douglas Paterson" wrote in message
...

My personal least-favorite (which I've received twice):

"Cleared to land runway XX; land at your own risk" -- given by tower when
wx drops below published mins (above mins when approach started, broke
out
at/before reaching DH [despite "official" wx]). No big deal, I guess,
but
the "at your own risk" wording sure got our attention!!


What tower uses that wording?


First time I heard it was McConnell AFB, Wichita, KS (KIAB). Training
sortie, KC-135, we were shooting the full VOR procedure, so several minutes
had elapsed between being cleared for the approach and switching over to
tower. We actually already had the runway more or less in sight when they
called out the weather (below mins; heavy rainshowers) and asked us for our
intentions. When we said we intended to complete the approach and
full-stop, they came back with "Roger, Turbo XX, cleared to land runway 35L;
land at your own risk." For whatever reason, the "official" weather was
wrong, we had plenty of visibility. Landed uneventfully, were asked for a
PIREP, but they didn't change anything based on our input, at least while we
were still on frequency.

I'd never heard that before ("at your own risk"), and we had them
repeat--got the same verbiage. I queried tower on the phone after landing,
they explained (and cited an appropriate reg) that it essentially means
"hey, we told you the weather's below mins; you fly your airplane, we don't
mind if you land on our runway." That clearance may or may not exist in the
civilian world, I don't know. USAF flies under its own rules--they mirror
both FAA and ICAO regs, but there are plenty of subtle differences (as there
are between FAA and ICAO). I have an easier time sorting out the
differences between NFL and college ball! That, actually, is a subject
to which I will have to dedicate some serious study as I ease back into
GA....

Second time was at Al Udeid AB, near Doha, Qatar (OTBH). Operational
sortie, KC-135 again, returning from an Enduring Freedom mission. We got
handed off to tower (USAF controllers in a Qatari tower), who told us vis
was below minimums (that area gets some wicked shallow morning fog; vertical
vis typically more-or-less unimpeded, horizontal can go to near zero). We
told them we'd continue and evaluate visibility on final, which got us the
"at your own risk" clearance. Having heard it before, I got to explain what
that meant to the rest of the crew! Landed uneventfully, were asked for
a PIREP, they immediately changed the "official" visibility to match our
observation.

--
Doug
"Where am I to go/Now that I've gone too far?" -- Golden Earring, "Twilight
Zone"
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